A Start of a Bargain

Needless to say, the appearance of Liu Guiren was enough to make her feel nervous. This was someone who was able to accomplish things even during his years in the university, not to mention that he was awfully rich.

It was a mixture of awe, envy and a bit of shame that had Chan Lee more nervous of what to do.

"Da Hong Pao?" Suyin spluttered.

From the girl's reaction, it certainly seemed like expensive tea. She wondered if it was on the menu, one of them lay in front of her… but Liu Guiren's hand was on top of it. 

"Ah, a tea connoisseur. It seems that you're quite familiar with it, would you like a cup as well?" The man was now smiling at Suyin with much interest.

Xiaobo slid his menu over without even much of a word.

She looked at the man in surprise of his actions, even though he was silent like her. Even more quiet actually, now that she thought of it? It must have been because he could observe her troubles. She sheepish smiled and thanked him, before poring over the menu. But there wasn't anything about the Da Hong Pao… so it must have been a secret menu thing. Anyhow, she looked at the snacks available on the menu. She shouldn't order, she shouldn't order anything—

"Oh, are you looking at the menu?" Liu Guiren's attention moved back to hers. "I'd recommend, well I'd already ordered my regular and I'll let you try it, but feel free to get anything else."

She smiled and shook her head, "Thank you for the offer, but I couldn't take advantage of your generosity."

"It wouldn't be taking advantage if I was offering it already though." Liu Guiren chuckled. "Besides, I was already intruding on the three of you."

"Well, I'll be having a heavy meal now, I suggest you do the same." Gen spoke up, although he was talking to Suyin, it was enough to break Chan Lee's resolve. A heavy meal… she wouldn't have to pay for her own dinner.

Chan Lee sighed heavily and nodded, "Alright then, thank you." Although her tastebuds were salivating at the thought of food.

They soon all had a good time together, or rather a meal together. It was more than enough to relax her nerves with a delicious serving of hot steaming yellow croaker noodle soup along with a serving of egg rolls. The six of them had a shared plate of tea snacks like nuts, sunflower seeds, red potato chips and other handy snacks.

Suyin had agreed to share a cup of Da Hong Pao with Mei who was more than curious to try it while enjoying the available tea snacks. Gen and Xiaobo were enjoying a hefty amount of braised pork to their heart's content. The caramelised brown sauce was enough to make anyone's mouth water as it was also served with tea eggs.

Out of all them, it was only Bo Lifen and Liu Guiren who held back.

Bo Lifen was the tea sommelier while the young man was simply more content to sip his tea, he didn't even touch the tea snacks at all.

There was hardly any conversation except for the few times that the president asked her and the others if they liked their food and some small talk between Liu Guiren and Bo Lifen. They seem to know each other past the level of a client and a server.

When all was said and done, Bo Lifen was quick to have people clear up the mess and smiled, bowing respectfully as she personally escorted them to the streets. "Thank you so much for visiting once again, Sir Liu. I hope that our accommodations were enough and you enjoyed your time."

"Of course, thank you so much as well." The man smiled and nodded briefly. "It's an interesting experience this time, so I'm quite pleased." He then turned towards them, bowing slightly, "May I offer you ladies a ride back to our university?"

"O-oh, thank you!" Mei smiled.

Suyin nodded. "That sounds good…" 

"Well, erm," Chan Lee considered the savings from a pool ride instead of taking a bus or a train. Not to mention that she'd get less tired… and the chance to ride at a car. She could already imagine a luxurious car. "Alright." She could get home closer via the university than at this place.

Well she was far from wrong.

A dark luxurious limousine was parked in front of them, and a chauffeur appeared to open the door for them. Without much hesitation, the three young women stepped inside and were followed by the three gentlemen. It didn't make sense that they'd make a scene at one of the richest districts in their city after all.

The ride was surprisingly quiet, perhaps because they were all sated. The owner of the car was more than content to stare outside the window, taking the passenger seat by the window. Chan Lee wanted to melt in her chair but managed to stay awake until they arrived at the university.

"Thank you for the ride, Liu Guiren." Mei thanked the man after they stepped out of the car, Suyin and her also nodded along in gratitude. "It's really a wonderful opportunity to have met you."

The man was quick to deflect her praise and returned it to Mei with a disarming smile. Without much of a fuss and just the appropriate farewells, they all began to disperse.

"See you guys tomorrow!" She waved at Mei and Suyin who left along with Gen and Xiaobo, then without further ado, she walked into the streets until a certain someone took notice—

"Oh, you're not staying at the university dorms as well?" Liu Guiren called after her.

She stopped in her tracks, feeling a quite familiar scene but she still turned to him and shook her head. "No, I stay somewhere else."

"I see, you could have told me and we could have dropped you at your place." Liu Guiren tilted his head, standing underneath the glow of a streetlight. His car was parked nearby with the chauffeur standing and waiting for him.

"Oh, it's fine. I can walk." Chan Lee answered, before deciding to add. "I wouldn't want to be a bother."

"Hmm, I'm not too comfortable with the idea of letting you walk home all by yourself." Liu Guiren's brows knitted together. "Would you care to point the directions to your place?"

Chan Lee shrugged, "I've been doing this for quite awhile now."

"That's quite a normal thing, indeed." Liu Guiren assented with a nod, "But I'm also heading back to my place, so if you're heading in that direction, I might as well let you ride with me."

She hesitated.

"It'll be less tiring for you~" The man answered with a playful smile.

A frown formed on her face, "That's not a fair thing to say."

"Ah, but it's true."  Liu Guiren sheepishly smiled before ducking his head. "Consider it as the only natural response of a student council president. You see, I don't have much opportunity to help a fellow student out on a more personal level so this could be a favor from you, what do you think?" 

Chan Lee bit her lip but agreed in the end. "Alright, thank you."

The young woman made sure that she was only dropped off at the street adjacent to hers, waved goodbye to the man and walked the rest of her way back to the apartment. When she arrived home and unlocked the door, it was only Xue who was there.

"Miss Chan Lee, welcome home!" Those words were said with the same amount of warmth but also held a tinge of worry for some reason that she couldn't exactly pinpoint.

"Hi Xue, where's Han Jing? Did he not come at all today?" She asked him, trying not to frown at the thought of the man not coming here.

"Oh he did!" The man was quick to reassure her with a smile. "He even brought me a meal...but he had to leave early." But in the end, he faltered.

Chan Lee sighed and rubbed her face, "That guy doesn't even go anywhere, why would he leave early?" 

"Maybe he wanted a little time to himself, I feel like we've been obligating him too much." Xue smiled a little sadly.

"...Well, you're not wrong." It was enough to make her even feel more guilty. "I have to make it up to him when I get some money."

"Miss Chan Lee, have I been burdening you by staying here?"

"No, not at all." She looked at him and shook her head. 

"But you didn't have to work before or bother Han Jing…" Xue hesitated but stopped right there.

"Well, I didn't exactly expect that I'd be giving shelter to you." She admitted, "But I decided to help you, so it's my own choice to work and such."

He frowned and took a step closer to her, "I'd like to be able to help you out as well."

She wanted to ask him how, but she wasn't so sure. "You don't really have to do anything, you've been cleaning up around here and that's more than enough."

"What if I could strike a bargain with Hua Zhao?"

"Bargain?"